Can Complex Humor Be Taught?

Our own Rocio Nuñez, Associate Clinical Director in San Fernando Valley, was recently published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis! She (along with four other ABA professionals) decided to tackle a very interesting topic: teaching young children how to understand double-meaning jokes. For example, “Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine!” This joke requires the listener to be able to understand that “ate” can also be heard as “eight”. Children below a certain age (or developmental age) tend to have trouble comprehending jokes that rely on this type of humor. Rocio and her team set out to determine if appreciation and understanding of these types of jokes could be taught to young children.

Guest UserApril 20, 2021

World Autism Month - 2021

Behavior Frontiers is happy to once again be celebrating World Autism Month. Though we can’t be together in our offices this year, that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate! From our annual office decoration contest being extended to home offices, to our team phone calls getting some much-loved World Autism Month backgrounds, we are continuing to find ways to celebrate the autism community and all that they offer. We aim to create a world without limits for the autism community, and not even a pandemic can stop us in that goal!

Guest UserApril 13, 2021

Creating and Using a Token System with Your Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Using a token system is a great way to reward your child for engaging in behaviors that we want to see more often. A token system can be a sticker chart, have Velcro attachments, or even be hand-drawn. The idea is that the child engages in a wanted behavior or skill and they earn a certain number of tokens. Then once they earn all the tokens, they turn them in or trade them in for a “back-up reinforcer,” or the final prize or reward.